Hong Kong shippers have demanded that intra-Asian shipping lines cancel a port congestion charge imposed this week on containers moving in and out of the hub port.

In a strongly worded statement, the Hong Kong Shippers’ Council (HKSC) said it “fails to see any justification for the charge”, and claims that shippers should instead be compensated by carriers for a “failure to provide a basic service”.

Congestion at terminals in North Europe and the U.S. as well as Asia has been a hot agenda item recently, causing a further deterioration in carrier schedule reliability and major delays to shippers’ supply chains. Read more here.